9. Prepare a presentation on the topic being discussed.

BACKGROUND TO WRITING

10. Elements of writing (2)

A. Numbers

! Discussing statistical data is a necessary part of much academic writing:

Of the total world population of 6,767,805,208, the latest data of Internet Users is numbered at 1,733,993,741.

The four-day event has 373 entries from 15 states -- the highest number of competitors since 2002.

Figures and numbers are both used to talk about statistical data in a general sense. The figures in the report need to be read critically. Digits are individual numbers. Both fractions (1⁄2) and decimals (0.975) may be used.

7,673 – a four digit number

$ 234,400 – a six figure salary (a number)

Figure (Fig) 2 – Methodologies to estimate data for 1970 to 1984 period and 1985 to present emissions differ (a diagram)

NB! No final -s on hundred/thousand/million:

In 1992 104, 425 thousand people voted for Clinton. but: Thousands of processors form a large cluster.

! When presenting data, the writer must attempt to be accurate without confusing the reader with too much detail. In some cases, where the actual number is unimportant, words or phrases may replace numbers to simplify the text:

Deciding between the 47 of programs that transfer iPods to computers can be maddening.

Deciding between the dozens of programs that transfer iPods to computers can be maddening.

! The following words or phrases can be used to describe quantity.

Few	less than expected
Several	3–4
Various	3–6
Dozens of	30–60
Scores of	50–100

1. Re-write the following sentences using one of the words or phrases above.

1. Only Four People Showed Up to Protest Apple at Grand Central

2. b) It is his achievement to have created five or six useful patterns.

3. The exhibition will consist of some forty to forty-five works from the Met's collection

4. Scholarships are awarded for three, or four years.

5. The Kearney Park and Recreation Department, with the assistance of nearly 100 volunteers, put on the Games.

! Percentages are commonly used for expressing rates of change:

Approximately 48% of U.S. adults are using smartphones and the penetration exceeds 60% in some markets this year.

Study the following expressions, which are also used to simplify statistics.

One in three	a third/a quarter
twice/three times as many	the majority/the minority
a tenfold increase	fifty per cent, a percentage
to double/to halve	on average/the average number
the most/the least	a small/large proportion

2. Rewrite each sentence in a simpler way, using one of the expressions above.

1. More than 400,000 people use computers for a social purpose such as social networking, or communicating with or emailing family and friends.

_______________________________________________________________________________

2. As of December 2008, there were 75,750,000 mobile phones in use in the UK.

_______________________________________________________________________________

3. Belarusian is an Eastern Slavonic language with about 7.5 million speakers in Belarus. _______________________________________________________________________________

4. The LinkedIn Web site was launched in 2003 and is now the largest professional networking site in the world with more than 65 million members, representing 200 countries and executives from every Fortune 500 company.

_______________________________________________________________________________

5. 217 million people worldwide play online games, according to new figures released by comScore. (28%)

______________________________________________________________________________

6. f)A recent study shows that 40 percent of computer users at the D.C. Public Library use the computers to research and apply for jobs and 20 percent of them report that they found jobs as a result. _______________________________________________________________________________

7. Over the past four years, as part of its ongoing transformation, the library increased the number of computers available to the public from 100 in 2006 to 600 this year. _______________________________________________________________________________s reference

B. References and Quotations

! A reference is an acknowledgement that you are making use of another writer’s ideas or data in your writing:

Robert S. Bauer, an executive director at Willow Garage, pointed out that computers were once seen as exotic machines.

There are three main reasons for giving references:

a) To avoid plagiarism.

b) To give more authority to your writing.

c) To show you are familiar with other research on the topic.

c) To help reader to find the original source by using the reference section.

Colles W. M., Hardy H. Playright and Copyright in all Countries. — L., 1906.

! In order to give references accurately it is important to follow the following procedure:

a) Keep a careful record of the details of your sources.

b) Study journals and departmental guidelines to find out which system of referencing is used in your subject area.

c) Use:

- summary of a writer’s ideas:

Robert S. Bauer, an executive director at Willow Garage, pointed out that computers were once seen as exotic machines. In the early 1970s, he said, Xerox Parc developed a series of sophisticated computers that cost several hundred thousand dollars. But these innovative machines paved the way for today’s personal computers.

-quotation of a writer’s words:

Dr. Bauer predicted that the first wave of robots would most likely become “the body for people with physical disabilities.” [Nick Bilton, Disruptions: Dining With Robots in Silicon Valley, 2012.]

-a mixture of summary and quotation:

As Mr. Cousins noted, these gadgets will be given more functional bodies, including arms, so they can interact in a physical space. He considered that “Today’s telepresence robots let you be somewhere”[Bilton N., 2012: pp.44-56].